Life
A day in my life working from home
My daily routine has entirely changed since I left my previous job in June. I've always been wanting to write about my daily routine, but since I worked in a 9-5 daily job at the office, it was hard to come out with a daily pattern as I had nothing exciting to rant on other than how much time I've wasted on the heavy traffic. Now that I am working from home, I have more time for myself, so I thought it would be interesting to share what a typical day working from home looks like (along with some of the variations that may occur).
06:00
My morning usually starts at 6 a.m., I wake up and perform Subuh prayer with my family. I then recite a few pages of Quran.
06:30
After reciting Quran, I go back to lying in bed, grab my phone, scroll through Twitter, read Aida Azlin's love letter every Tuesday and The Blissful Mind's newsletter every Thursday. I know this is not ideal, but apparently, it helps, so I won't fall back to sleep. And if I'm feeling it, I scroll through my Bloglovin and read a couple of blog posts.
07:30
After resting, I lay down my yoga mat and start the workout. And on the weekends, I go jogging around my residential area, which usually takes around 45 minutes. This is probably the most life-changing habit I've developed for the past two months. It helped improve my stamina and gave me a serotonin boost which made me keep going whenever I felt like giving up.
08:30
Usually, I read for about 45 minutes to 1 hour while waiting for my sweat to dry off before I go for a shower. Honestly, I've been getting a lot more into reading lately. I never used to enjoy reading. I remember being a huge reader when I was a kid, but then I kind of phase-out of it. I would've instead spent my time watching a TV show or a movie, but then I have recently rediscovered the joy of reading. Becoming is the first book that got me hooked on reading. I've finished all the books I planned to read this month, and my current favorite is Anne of Green Gables!
09:30
I take a shower, make my bed, open the blinds and head straight to the kitchen to have breakfast. Once done making my own coffee, I head to my workspace and get on my computer.
10:30
My workday officially starts at 11:00, but I usually start a bit earlier to set up my pc, put my CD on the CD player (so classic), blast my music to get me into the right mood, get mentally prepared, and ready to start my job. While getting prepared, I watch one or two Youtube videos before starting my work.
15:30
An hour-long of lunch break. There is a bit of time to grab lunch while watching Netflix and a short nap.
16:30
Continue working during the afternoon hours.
20:00
My workday is finally over. I have dinner with my family, take a shower, put on my pajamas, and get ready for Isya' prayer.
21:00
This varies every time. Whenever I feel overwhelmed and need to organize my thoughts, I journal. I draft a blog post when I'm in the mood to write and watch my favorite ongoing drama when the subs are up. Sometimes I continue to read too from where I left off earlier if I'm too curious to know how the story ends, depending. And when I feel extra tired that day, I just lay down on my bed watching Youtube or just staring at the ceiling and do absolutely nothing. But Monday is always my Running Man's day.
22:30
Preparing to go to bed. I brush my teeth, apply my night skincare, and list down three things I'm grateful for today to wind down before bed. My ideal bedtime is actually at 11 p.m. but usually (well, most of the time), it drags up to 1 a.m. This is the most problematic habit to fix as I often found myself scrolling through my Instagram and Twitter feed. And Tik-Tok? Please, it's so addicting!
So, here's a day in my life. Not too fancy, but I love my current routine. Every time I succeed, I feel so proud of myself, I feel in control and at peace, and knowing that I have something to look forward to tomorrow is just - beautiful.
Now, how's a day in your life like?
Life
How 'bout you? What are you most looking forward to?
What am I looking forward to doing after lockdown
Selangor has finally entered phase 2. Those who have completed two doses of vaccines are now allowed to dine in and travel freely within the state. As for me, I’m still waiting for my second dose and a total of 14 days after the second jab while looking forward to doing them once this is all over. Though my list is getting longer as this lockdown continues. But that’s fine, it doesn’t hurt to daydream and have things to anticipate, right?
Here’s what I’m looking forward to doing when things go back to “normal,” whenever that is.
Going shopping
I’ve been shopping online a lot since it still feels unsafe for me to roam around the shopping mall, but it’s never the same as physical shopping. I miss wandering around the mall aimlessly, stopping at my favorite shops, and checking out the items myself. The Premium Outlets will be the first to check out once the interstate ban is lifted!
Visiting grandmother and cousins
I’m lucky to stay with my parents during this pandemic, but I haven’t been able to meet my grandma for more than five months now. It was so lonely to celebrate Eid without her for two years consecutively. Same with cousins, it will be lovely to be all back and catching up without worries of being infected and passing the virus around each other.
2 days 1 night trip with friends
A lot of staycation recommendations have been up on Twitter since the endemic phase was officially announced. And I just cannot wait to kick back and unwind while having a long overdue catch-up with my friends after not seeing each other for months.
Picnic & coffee date
Simple moments that I realized I took for granted. So many memories of spending weekends with friends while enjoying some coffee and sunshine. Sometimes I can be guilty of saying no because I prefer to spend my weekend at home getting work done and have time for myself rather than hanging out. But now, never again!
Traveling
Clearly not any time soon. I miss hopping on an airplane, putting on extra layers of garments to keep me warm, and jetlag. It’s all too precious. Another thing that made me realize just how I took them for granted most of the time and how grateful I am for the opportunity to travel the world.
Here is a list of places I would love to visit:
- Switzerland - My family and I had to cancel this trip last year, which I was looking forward to and hopefully have to chance to visit in real life soon.
- South Korea - Planned this trip with my friends since 2019 but still have no clue when it will happen. Huhu
- Sepang Gold Coast - Because I miss beach so much
Life
Let me know if you have better book recommendations. I'll be happy to add more books to my TBR list ;)
What I Read in July/August
I'm starting this new series because I thought it would be fun to share what I've been reading recently and my thoughts on them, even though I can't guarantee the consistency as I'm not a devoted reader and just starting out. Still, better to strike it while the iron is hot, right? So, I read a total of four books in July and August (one in July, three in August), which I think is a good number for a starter.
Becoming by Michelle Obama
Becoming is the memoir genre book written by Michelle Obama, The First Lady of US. This book talks about her honest perspective on life, marriage, self-doubt, motherhood, and being the first lady. It is divided into three main parts: Becoming Me - takes us to her early childhood and her family at South Side of Chicago. Coming from a working-class family, she shows her ambition, her success at school years, through her Princeton University and Harvard Law School education, to her early career as a lawyer at the law firm Sidley&Austin, where she met Barack Obama. Becoming Us - reveals the beginning of their romantic relationship, followed by their marriage and the beginning of Barack's political career. And the final part is Becoming More - which tells us the first family life.
Becoming is the first memoir genre book that I managed to finish. I love how Michelle narrates her own story in this book as someone very vulnerable. Throughout the book, Michelle Obama is candid, insightful, and witty. Most importantly, I feel connected and could relate to some of her 421 pages journey she's shared. A few parts are pretty dull to me, especially about politics, but that doesn't affect my overall opinion on her book.
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Get Your Sh*t Together by Sarah Knigh
This book is mainly about getting control of your life. Sarah Knight denotes the people needing the book into 3 personality types; Simon, Alvin, and Theodore referencing the cultural archetypes - Alvin and the Chipmunks to describe her reader. She conveys the message about prioritizing in a witty way, light-hearted, non-preachy, and bits of profanity.
I understand she is trying to help by giving practical insights and tips, but I did find it to be quite repetitive with excessive examples. Or maybe I'm not the target audience, but everything was obvious and just basic common sense that I find nothing new through her book. It's basically about strategizing, focus & starting small by breaking it into small chunks. And her chipmunk analogy didn't really hit the mark for me.
My rating: ⭐⭐/5 (I'm being generous here)
The Things You can See Only When You Slow Down by Haemin Sunim
As the title suggests, it's best to read this book slowly to savor each chapter, starting with rest, mindfulness, passion, relationships, love, life, future, and ending with spirituality. In each chapter, Haemin Sunim writes a small essay about his own experience relating to that specific topic and his view on it, followed by a series of quotes and sayings supplemented with a sprinkle of beautiful illustrations.
I read this sweet little book slowly to get the best of it as suggested by the author. The English translation is relatively simple and easy to comprehend, yet the words are still beautiful. I started reading this book at a difficult time, which provided me so much comfort (extra star for this). Here is one of my favorite excerpts:
We lose interest in movies or TV series
in which good characters are always good and bad ones are always bad
This does not match up to reality
No person is always good or bad
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
The Little Prince is a classic metaphorical tale about his journey from planet to planet and in each tiny world is populated a single adult as an allegory for all of life.
The Little Prince is one of those famous books that seems that everyone has to read, so I thought I should too. I know this book is regarded as a children's book, but I feel like it is actually for the grown-ups, just in a simpler way for stating all the complicated thoughts of the little prince. I personally think there were layers beneath layers to this story that I still haven't grasped yet. Maybe I am just way too far gone into the world of grown-ups but isn't that's the beauty of this story?
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Life
12 Things in August
August this year feels so short yet hectic; a lot has happened in a single month. I'm looking forward to September but for now, let's take a moment to look back and reflect.
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| Cover page inspired by @saraah.journaling |
- Being Productive | This month, I attempted to spend less time in front of a screen and planned a new routine that doesn't require an Internet connection. Well, kind of cheating here because I did need the help of YouTube for my workout tutorials. So, I challenged myself to start the day out with a workout, books, journaling & iced coffee before I started working. I've been practicing this for three weeks straight, and I love it.
- Starting Workout Routine | I started my morning workout routine this month which I hadn't done in forever because I hate sweating so much, but I have to say, it feels so good though I do play hooky a few times. Not to mention the post-workout glow is real!
- What I Read in August | This month, as I started to get back into reading, I set my target to read at least one chapter a day and more on the weekends and holidays. I've done this religiously for the past month and finished 3 books. Since it's been 6 months since the last time I read something, it feels so good! I will share my thoughts on these books in another post.
- Getting your shit together by Sarah Knights
- Becoming by Michelle Obama
- The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (Re-read) - Homemade Iced Chocolate | I bought Chocolate Sauce that went viral on Twitter and made myself homemade iced chocolate. A perfect drink to enjoy to start your day.
- New Shift (3 PM-12 AM) | It was a new experience, and at first, I hated it, I thought my life would be more disorganized, but it got better than expected. I had more time in the morning and used the time for reading and working out.
- New Project | I was assigned to a new project; thus the reason I was required to attend the training session, which started at 3 PM, and this new project is a lot harder than I thought. I miss my old project.
- New Template | My blog got a makeover! This is my second purchase of a blog template. I love my previous template and have used it for almost two years. My blog needs a new image, and I itched to get a new template. I'm so happy with how it turned out. It's like a fresh start, which brings me a lot of joy. Do you like it, though?
- Playing Santa | As I mentioned in my previous post, I played Santa with my closest friends. It was really satisfying to see my friends receive and happy with their gifts.
- Hello future & Empathy | Well, to be fair, Hello Future album was released on 28th June while Empathy was released on 26th July, but since I received both albums in August so I thought I should include them in my 12 Things in August. Though I listen to both albums on Spotify, you know, there is something to enjoy about having physical media and owning an album.
- Setting Up My Book Journal | As I just to get back into reading, I thought that I should keep a book journal to document all the books I read in 2021. Every time I read a book, it's been so fun and motivating to make notes as I go along. We still have four months left before 2021 ends, better late than never!
- Buying More Stationeries | I guess I watched too much journaling and stationery haul videos lately, so I bought too many stationeries this month. From six different shops. Impulsively.
- What I’ve Been Watching
Police University - Krystal, Jinyoung, and Hong Soohyun in one drama? I have no reason to not watch it. It is an ongoing drama, and I have only watched 7 episodes. This heartwarming drama hit all the right notes for me, full of bromance, comedy, heart-fluttering romance, chasing criminals, and strictly trained police officers. I am excitedly waiting for the next episode!
Witch Diner - I decided to watch this drama because of Nam Jihyun and Chae Jonghyeop but I felt like the ending was too rushed; hence there were only eight episodes.
Hometown Cha Cha Cha - Also an ongoing drama. I signed up for this drama the second 'Dimple Couple' were confirmed as the leads for this drama. Watched the first two episodes, and I'm attached.
Hospital Playlist - Another healing drama that gives me so much comfort after an exhausting week. This drama is about to end soon, and I'm not ready to move on.
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